It’s alive!

By Penny Stine

My garden has been buried under four inches of snow for a month. When it first snowed, I hoped that the little spinach seedlings that came up so bravely in November (or is that brazenly?) would hang in there for a few days. After it became a few weeks and then over a month with temperatures below freezing, I just assumed that my poor spinach had died.
But when I went to check after the snow melted, look what I found!
In fact, it actually looks like it grew a little bit under all that snow. I probably won't be eating fresh spinach by March, but maybe by April.

Sadly, the broccoli that I left standing isn't looking so good. Deer wandered through my yard at 4 a.m. several weeks ago, but even they weren't interested in the frozen broccoli.

My other cold-hardy crops are a mixed bag. This is kale. I think it lived through at least one previous winter. I don't think it lived through this winter, although if I cut back all the frost-bit stuff, there might be something alive.

This kale, which is only four feet from the frozen plants, looks like it might survive.

Yes, it's extremely tiny, but that's because it was in the shade when the trees had leaves. Perhaps it will thrive in the late winter/early spring before the trees get their leaves.

Regardless, it's kind of cool to see the effects of the freezing weather on some of the garden plants. And pretty amazing to see that spinach. It's a strain called Winter Giant from Territorial Seed. So far, it's living up to its name.